Falun Dafa Day in Gothenburg, Sweden

13th May, 2002 was the tenth anniversary of Falun Gong, i.e. it was ten years since Master Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Gong to the public. In order to celebrate this occasion Falun Dafa practitioners held activities in Gothenburg, Sweden on Saturday 18th May, 2002.

In the afternoon and morning, the activities were held in a little park called "Felix Lindebergsplatsen" in central Gothenburg. There the practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises, taught the exercises to the public, and distributed brochures and other material about Falun Gong. In addition, they handed out balloons, lollipops and paper lotus flowers to children passing by. The children were also able to sit on the grass and learn folding paper flowers themselves. Due to the fact that it was a Saturday and it was warm and sunny, people seemed to be in no hurry, lingering and relaxing in the sunshine. This provided an exceptionally good opportunity for the Falun Gong practitioners to make contact and communicate with the public as well as to demonstrate and teach the exercises to them.

In the evening the practitioners gathered at the Götaplatsen - a paved open-area in the centre of Gothenburg. Candles were lit to commemorate the Chinese practitioners who have been subjected to the evil persecution in China and activities then commenced with Fa Zheng Nian (sending forth righteous thoughts). This was followed by a demonstration of the exercises. Two practitioners from Gothenburg played an accompaniment for several practitioners who sang “Falun Dafa Hao” [Falun Dafa is Good] and for a Swedish-Chinese practitioner while she sang the Falun Gong song called De Du. Furthermore, one of the practitioners shared her experiences from when she travelled to China to appeal for an end to the persecution there and another one of the practitioners read out a speech and a poem. The activities were brought to a close with a female practitioner from Gothenburg dancing to Pudu. She had choreographed the dance herself and named it "Gratitude".

At the same time as she danced, a film with practitioners doing the exercises was projected onto a large screen. The overall effect of the soft electric lighting, the candle light, the film projection, the dance and music was very powerful, captivating, and moving.

The next day, in Gothenburg Gothenburg, Sweden 19 May 2002: Practitioners continued to bring awareness of the significance of the Zhen-Shan-Ren [Truthfulness-Compassion_Tolerance] to the Swedish people. On this beautiful evening the elegant performance of Dafa exercises, music, song and dance was presented in Gothenburg. The audience appreciated the harmonious atmosphere of the event on this pleasant evening. “It is beautiful!” commented a couple.

A practitioner made a short speech to commemorate the event and at the same time mentioned the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Some of the people in the audience light a candle in sympathy with us. Zhen-Shan-Ren or Truth-Compassion-Tolerance shall be cherished forever by good Swedish people.

Reported by Swedish practitioner